Souls and Iron
by Faygo-Cytosis
Summary: Eighteen years after they defeated the Creator, Albel Nox is put to death for the murder of King Arzei’s wife and the maiming of their son. In a new body, he must team up with old allies to find the sword that will save his kingdom. Better summary inside.
1. Wretched Departure

**A/N: **Heh. To all my fans, sorry that I haven't updated any of my fics. To all that are new readers, please bear with me. My first SO3 fic. 

**Summary:** Eighteen years after they defeated the Creator, Albel Nox is put to death for the murder of King Arzei's wife and the maiming of their seventeen-year-old son. Finding himself in a new body, he must team up with old allies to prove his innocence and to search for a legendary blade that may be the key to saving Elicoor from a new threat, and that may hold the power to bring back the dead… Rated for violence, gore, and swearing.

**Yaoi Warning: **If you do not like yaoi, or are offended by it, DON'T READ!

Chapter One

After they defeated the Creator, Fayt and the others went their separate ways. Fayt decided to travel with Cliff and Maria on the Diplo, Sophia returned home, and the four Elicoorians returned home to help rebuild in the aftermath of the war.

King Arzei married Elena Frahm later that same year, and almost a full year later, she gave birth to their son, Allen. He had clear blue eyes and his hair was snowy white, lighter than even his mother's hair. As the next seventeen years passed, he grew and matured into a strong young man. Albel taught him how to fight, and he and the boy became close companions. In fact, many courtiers commented that the boy even resembled Albel. He had many of the same strong features, and had the lithe body that many had seen on a younger Albel.

Albel had retired from the Black Brigade after the boy turned seventeen, so that he could personally see to his training, but there were other reasons. Albel was getting older, nearing forty-three, and he had decided that it was time for the younger soldiers to take over.

So it was that Albel the Wicked became more of a welcome sight around Airyglyph. That was, until…

* * *

Albel ducked down a dark alley to avoid the soldiers that were after him. When he had heard the horrible news, he had come to the capital as quickly as possible, only to find the town guards after him! As he stopped to catch his breath, he began to think back on what had happened.

Elena Frahm, the queen, had been found brutally murdered in her bed chamber. If it weren't for the silvery-white locks of her hair, she would never have been recognizable. Though Albel felt horrible for the loss, it was the second piece of news that angered him.

The Prince! He had been badly wounded before the guards could come to his aid. Albel was slightly bewildered at this. The boy was as strong as him, if not, he grudgingly thought, stronger. He should have been able to beat off any normal attacker.

But what angered Albel most was the fact that those _maggots_ thought that he was responsible. Sure, they had found claw marks on the queen's body, and there were deep slashes, as if from a sword, but that didn't mean it was him. If the boy hadn't collapsed after the attack, he would have been able to tell them. Besides, Albel couldn't hurt _anything_ with his claw anymore. He hated to admit it, but it was the honest truth. The claw was attached to his arm through a series of bolts driven through the remaining bone in his upper arm. Over the years of strain he had put on it, the bolts had begun to come lose and were now grinding against the bone in his arm and tearing what muscle he had left. He could barely move it without feeling the sharp pain in his arm.

Unfortunately, he was so caught up in his musings that the guards found him. He broke past them and into the open street, but was unprepared for the sheer amount of soldiers waiting for him. Leading them was Elric, the new Dragon Brigade leader, every bit as evil as Vox.

"Leave him to me, men," Elric stated calmly. He stepped forward, drawing his blade and standing in a battle stance, ready to attack. Albel drew his own blade, allowing his heavy claw to hang down by his side.

Without any warning, Elric launched his attack. He was lightning fast, and Albel, feeling the first pulls of aging, was barely able to block. After a few more attacks, it was clear that Albel wouldn't be able to win this fight. (**A/N:** Sorry to all Albel fans, it hurt me to write this!)

Elric grinned. "Well, Nox, looks like you finally lost to the Dragon Brigade." Albel glared daggers at the younger man, but remained silent. "I must thank you though, for getting rid of that bitch. I just wish that you had killed that little pet of yours."

That was it. Albel had learned to take trash talk about himself, but no one was going to insult Allen like this. In a swift movement, he pushed off from the wall he had been leaning on and slammed his metal fist into the face of the younger Brigade Captain. He was totally unprepared for the explosion of pain in his arm as the impact splintered the remaining bone around the securing bolts in his arm. He screamed, a totally horrible sound that sent many of the younger soldiers backwards. Falling to his knees, he clutched at his now useless arm.

Elric, though bleeding from a broken nose, sneered in dark satisfaction. "Look how the mighty Albel the Wicked has fallen." Picking up his fallen sword, he contemplated it for a moment before saying, "It's a pity, but the King want's you alive." He reversed his sword and slammed the pommel into the back of Albel's head, sending him into oblivion.

* * *

Fayt surveyed his surroundings and smiled. It had been a few years since he had been here for one of his visits. The past eighteen years had treated him well. His blue hair had grown down almost to his hips, and it was held back in a lose tail at his neck with an old piece of leather. He nearly beamed at the others. Cliff and Mirage hadn't changed a bit, and Maria had kept her own appearance so similar to that of years past that it was almost scary. Despite being thirty-seven, Fayt didn't look a day over twenty, a latent effect of the genetic experiments he had discovered a few years ago. It affected Maria and Sophia in similar ways. He still had his old broadsword with him, and his outfit really hadn't changed much, though the vest was now black.

They had been transported down outside the gates of the Glyphian capital, and they could see that there was quite a commotion going on within the city. Fayt was about to ask a passerby what was going on when he saw a familiar wisp of red hair approaching.

"Nel!" He grinned widely. He was so glad that he had the chance to see the Elicoorian members of their team again. But when she approached, his smile disappeared and he became troubled. She looked the same as when they traveled together, except for the few strands of gray in her hair. But it was the look on her face that caused his smile to falter. She looked upset, and almost as if she had been…crying?

"Nel? What's the matter?" It looked as if she might say something, but then she stopped and shook her head wearily.

"It would be better if you just followed me."

Confused, Fayt and the other Quark members followed her through the gates of the city. They could see mourning banners everywhere, and the citizens looked either sad, angry, or an odd mix of both. When they approached the town square, there were many hushed voices, and he heard dark laughter from a few. When he saw what the townsfolk were looking at, he stopped in his tracks. "Oh, God…"

Albel was tied upright to a post in the center of the square. His body was beaten badly and Fayt could see evidence of his legs being badly broken. There was a horrible bloody gash that started at Albel's right shoulder and ended at his left hip. He could see crust's of blood on the warrior's face, coming from the corners of his eyes and mouth. Fayt's breath caught in his throat when he saw Albel's arm. Albel's claw arm was missing, and it appeared as if it had been ripped off. The body was motionless and Fayt feared the worst.

"It is as you fear, Fayt," Nel spoke up. "He is dead."

Fayt was dumbstruck. "What…what the Hell happened!" Fayt turned to Nel and almost shouted in her face. Her weary eyes refused to meet Fayt's emerald one's.

"This is his punishment, death from exposure."

Fayt was furious. "What crime could he possibly have committed that would warrant such a horrible death!"

At this, Nel finally met his gaze. "His crime was the murder of Queen Elena and the attempted murder of Prince Allen."

Fayt stared at her in shock. He couldn't believe it. Albel couldn't have…

In his rooms deep in the palace, a man awoke, saw his reflection, and screamed.

End.

**Iron Maiden: **So, what did you guys think? I will DEFINITELY keep this one going.

Please, review. And remember, flames will be used to keep the fires of Hell burning hot for Sophia!


	2. Grim Awakenings

**A/N: **Gah! I'm such an asshole! It's been FOREVER since I've updated, I know. I will SERIOUSLY try to keep this one going this time. Cuz if I don't, Fayt is going to kill me!

Ehrm, same warning as the previous chapter.

--------------------------------------------- 

Fayt stormed to the castle as his initial shock wore off, and a new rage started. How could this have happened. Albel wouldn't have betrayed his people like this, would he? And then there was Allen. Albel treated the boy like a son, and he was one of the few people, aside from Fayt, that Albel didn't call worm, maggot, or any other of his usual insults. So then, why?

He and the others had just burst through the doors, past the startled guards, when they heard screams coming from one of the corridors on the upper floor of the castle.

Without thinking, Fayt quickly dashed up the stairs, followed closely by the others. He discovered the noise to be coming from inside the chambers of none other than Allen, the wounded Prince. Arzei himself was standing outside the door, his guards attempting to open the door that was obviously locked from the inside.

Albel's gruesome death temporarily took a back seat in Fayt's mind.

"What's going on!"

Arzei looked at Fayt, surprised momentarily at his appearance, before responding. "Allen has been asleep for four days after that monster attacked him, and then he suddenly woke up screaming! I think it's the shock of his own injuries that scared him."

Fayt was puzzled, having not been informed on the extent of the prince's injuries. He wondered just how bad they were. Then he got an idea. While Allen had always been closer to Albel, he also held admiration for Fayt, as a person and as a fighter. _Maybe I can get through to him _he thought. Pushing carefully past the King, Fayt gently rapped his knuckles on the door. "Allen, it's me, Fayt. Please, open the door so that we can help you."

The screams from the other side of the door abruptly stopped, and before Fayt knew what was happening, the door was roughly wrenched open and he was pulled inside the room before the door slammed shut behind him. Before he could register this quick series of events, he was pinned to the wall by a very strong forearm to the throat.

Green eyes stared in shocked silence into what was supposed to be icy blue. But instead, the eyes that bore madly into his from below a fringe of white hair were bloody red.

"Al-Allen? What's...wrong? What's...happened...to...to you?" Fayt barely managed to choke out the words over the mounting pressure to his throat. That's when he noticed. The prince's left arm, from halfway between his elbow and shoulder, was gone. _No wonder they thought Albel did this, _Fayt thought.

The bloody eyes continued to stare for a moment, before the boy spoke, but the voice that addressed Fayt wasn't the light and kind tone of the prince. It was a deeper, darker tone that he had become all too familiar with, that he never thought he would hear again.

"Leingod. Where...where am I! What am I doing here! I thought - I though I was..." The voice trailed off and Fayt's mind almost went numb with shock.

"Al...bel? Is that...really you?" The arm on Fayt's throat withdrew quickly and the blue haired man slid to the floor. How was this possible? Albel the Wicked, alive inside the body of the prince that had come to be known as Allen the Virtuous?

But it was undeniable. The tone of voice and those unmistakable red eyes were the proof of that.

------------------------------------------------

Cliff and the others now stood anxiously on the other side of the heavy door, along with Arzei and his guards. The room had suddenly gone quiet after Fayt had been pulled through that door, and honestly, that worried them.

So all of them were quite surprised when the door slowly opened and Fayt walked back out into the hall, shutting the door behind them. Arzei was the first to speak. "Fayt. My son, how is my son?" The king's words drew the blue haired warrior out of the daze he had been in and he looked at those surrounding him with worried look.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, but maybe you should -" Before he could finished his sentence, the door burst open again, and there stood Allen, or, as Fayt knew him, Albel in Allen's body. The worry that Fayt was feeling increased tenfold as he watched the white haired man move forward.

Arzei hadn't a clue. "My son, are you alright? After that monster hurt you I was afraid that -" But his sentence was cut short.

In the time it would take to blink, Albel had drawn the sword that had been hidden behind his back and put it to the king's throat, effectively silencing him. Arzei's confusion quickly turned to a mix of fear and anger as he looked into his son's now red eyes.

"I'm back from Hell, you worthless excuse for a maggot, and I'll make sure I take you and your pathetic lackey's back with me to see the King of the Dead!"

--------------------------------- 

Iron Maiden: Well, what do ya'll think?

Albel: Finally, I can get some payback!

Iron Maiden: Later, Skirt Boy, but for now have some pocky.

Now remember, read and review peeps. More reviews equals more nagging from my boyfried, and that means quicker updates!


	3. Dark Revelations

A/N: I know, it's been FOREVER. Frack, school is KILLING me. Not to mention the step-father doesn't like letting me on the computer. grumble Aaaaanywho, time for the third installment of what I hope will be a great fic.

Disclaimer: I don't own them, so you can't sue me. Huzzah!

And, as reply to NoahBluze, we can totally share 'im!

-----Souls and Iron - Chapter 3: Dark Realizations

_"I'm back from Hell, you worthless excuse for a maggot, and I'll make sure I take you and your pathetic lackey's back with me to see the King of the Dead!"_

Arzhei glared down at the possessed form of his son, now controlled by Albel's spirit.

"What have you done to my son, wretched beast!" The King's fists were shaking with barely controlled rage.

The possessed boy sneered. "To be brutally honest, I have no idea how I got here. But I _do_ know one thing. You left the wrong man to rot and die on that post."

Fayt was panicked. While Albel would normally never hurt the King he had sworn loyalty to, he had suffered a horrible punishment commanded by that same man and was now out for revenge. He was about to step forward when Cliff's arm blocked him.

The blue-haired man turned to the older Klausian. "Just wait, bud. Look."

Fayt's attention turned back to the possessed form of Allen. The white-haired youth's body was trembling, and beads of sweat were rolling down his face. But what caught Fayt's attention most were his eyes. They flickered from red to blue, and back again. After a few seconds, his eyes remained solid blue, and the boy collapsed to the floor. Quickly, Fayt ran to his side. "Albel?"

"W-what...where?" The voice that answered was light and weary, and the older warrior's eyes widened in shock. _This _was the true Allen, in control of himself again. _But what happened to Albel?_

The Prince sat up slowly and immediately clutched at the stump of his mutilated arm. Looking down in confusion at the missing limb, Fayt noticed how the boy's body tensed.

And then the Prince screamed.

---

It was sometime later and Fayt and the others sat quietly in the King's study. It had taken considerable effort to calm Allen, and then came the painful task of relating his mother's death, and Albel's execution. Upon hearing of the death of the warrior, he had been frantic, and it was obvious that he had no memory of being possessed. When told of how Albel had been convicted and executed, the Prince was livid.

"Lord Albel would never hurt me, and besides, the thing that attacked us looked nothing like him."

The others sat in shocked silence, and the color quickly drained from the King's face. "What...what do you mean, my son?"

Allen turned cool eyes towards his father, and the others were reminded of the looks Albel would give to those he felt were beneath him. Such open disgust on the usually calm boy's face made Fayt briefly wonder if he was again possessed.

"The creature that attacked us did have a human shape and did wield a sword, but the claw that was used to attack us was not metal, but flesh and blood. As you were well aware, _father, _Albel's claw was useless to him, because of the effects of many years of bearing it's weight. He could barely curl his false fingers into a fist, yet you were still so eager to believe him the culprit. He wasn't even in the Royal City."

Fayt and the others looked pained at the news. It must have been incredibly difficult for Abel to admit such a weakness to anyone, let alone the ones he was supposed to protect.

"Which reminds me, father. What ever happened to Lord Albel's claw? Lord Fayt said that it appeared to have been...ripped off."

Arzhei nodded shakily. "That was Lord Elric's doing. The remaining bones in Albel's left arm broke in the fight to capture him, and Elric later ripped it the rest of the way off, as the beginning of his punishment."

Everyone else in the room stared aghast at the King. How could they have done something so savage! And for Albel, losing that limb was more than punishment, it was a reminder of the first time he had failed someone close to him.

"If that limb is still serviceable, I want it cleaned and repaired, and I want the kingdom's best runologists here so that they may attach it to my own arm."

For the first time since the meeting, the aged Woltar spoke. "Are you sure, My Lord? It is a very painful procedure, and if even the slightest error is made-"

"I know the risks, Woltar. I will go through with it."

Fayt thought back to the torn body he had seen in the courtyard. "That must have been so painful for Albel to go through."

"Oh, believe me, Leingod. It was."

Everyone in the room turned to Allen. The voice he had spoken with was rich and deep, and his sky blue eyes were once again the color of blood.

_Oh crap. Here we go again._

_---_

Unknown to those inside, a shadowy form watched them from outside one of the many huge palace windows. The strange creature was perched on the windowsill, a point of yellow light indicating it's right eye as it watched, the other eye hidden beneath the fall of it's matted black hair. It was in the shape of a young man, with long hair and finely pointed ears. It's feet, though, were in the shape of claws, the skin a dark hardened black. A pair of mismatched wings were on it's back, one birdlike and the other like that of a bat. A long tail twitched nervously behind it.

The most interesting features, perhaps, were it's arms. While the one that held on to the window sill was a normal human arm, the other was in the shape of a wicked black claw.

------End Chapter Three----

A/N: Sorry this was so short! Man, getting this started is hard. Later, after all the beginning crap is over, it should get easier.

Same drill, peeps. Read and Review.


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